Just in time for Valentines Day! Who wouldn’t love dark chocolate with gooey salted caramel, lightly toasted pecans, and a sprinkle of Icelandic Sea Salt!
Ingredients:
- 60 grams of prepared raw chocolate (see Raw Chocolate post), chopped and melted over a double boiler
- 1/2 cup of raw pecans, lightly toasted
- 12 medjool dates, pitted
- 1/3 cup raw almond butter
- 2 tbsp. maple syrup
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- pinch of salt
- 16 drops of Caramel Medicine Flower Extract (Available at specialty markets. Not really necessary but bumps up the caramel flavour)
- finishing sea salt
Either prepare chocolate from scratch, keeping melted over a double boiler, or melt one batch of raw chocolate in a double boiler. Be careful not to overheat the chocolate. Keep the water hot beneath but not boiling while you prepare the caramel.
The Caramel:
Remove pits from the dates. Process in a food processor until they form a large sticky ball.
Add the almond butter, maple syrup, vanilla, salt, and caramel extract if using to the processed dates. Continue to process until it forms a large smooth ball. You may need to stop and scrape down the sides a few times.
Roll the caramel into 1 cm. balls and set aside. There should be enough chocolate to make 48 turtles and more than enough caramel so feel free to pop a few caramel balls in your mouth!
With a 1/2 tsp. measuring spoon, spoon 1/2 tsp. of melted chocolate into 48 little foil cups.(1 inch in diameter) Place on a cookie sheet and set in the fridge or freezer to set.
Remove from the freezer. Gently press a ball of the prepared caramel on top of each chocolate disc and then press a toasted pecan into the caramel. If you are using big pecans you might want to break them in half.
Drizzle 1/2 tsp. of the remaining melted chocolate over the caramel and pecans. Sprinkle with a few grains of coarse sea salt and then return to the fridge or freezer to set. Store in the fridge until you are ready to eat or give as gifts!
